A partial list of settlements paid by New Jersey government agencies and their insurers to those who have sued them.

Wednesday, January 17, 2018

Middlesex County paid out $20,000 to settle lawsuit filed by estate of 25-year-old woman who hanged herself in county jail.

On September 2, 2017, the County of Middlesex agreed to pay $20,000 to settle a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the estate of a 25-year-old Colonia woman who hanged herself on August 5, 2013 while an inmate in the Middlesex County Adult Correctional Facility.

In its complaint, the estate of Ashley Shubiger said that jail officials failed to protect the woman even though they knew or should have known that Shubiger "was a high risk of suicide" who "required one on one constant supervision."

None of the estate's allegations have been proven or disproven in court. Settlement agreements typically state that payment does not constitute an admission of wrongdoing by any of the defendants. All that is known for sure is that Middlesex or its insurer, for whatever reason, decided that it would rather pay the estate $20,000 than take the matter to trial. Perhaps the defendants' decision was done to save further legal expense and the costs of trying what were in fact exaggerated or meritless claims. Or, perhaps the claims were true and the defendants wanted to avoid being embarrassed at trial. This is the problem when cases resolve before trial--it is impossible to know the truth of what really happened.